Automatic weighing-scale.



N o. 660,794. Patented ocflso, 190m E. HANAK & a, HOEPNER. AUTOMATICWEIGHING SCALE.

(Application filed N07. 13, 1899.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 1,

(No llodeL') m: NORRIS vzrsn; co. r-uowumq. WASHINGTON, 0.4;.

No. 660,794. Patented Oct. 30, I900.

E. HANAK 8L6. HOEPNER. AUTOMATIC WEIGHING SCALE.

(Application met! Nov. 13, 1899.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Modoi.)

mg NOMHIS evens co, worouwouwnnwmom0.1:.

No. 660,794? Patentd on. 30, I900.

E. HANAK & a. HOEPNER.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING SCALE.

(Application filed. Nov. 13, 1899.)

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Shea! 3.

5] vwawtotd, LMl M M wi tneooe/o, 4 W

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ASSIGNORS TO THE UNION SCALE SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC WE AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF

lGHlNG-SCALE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 660,794, dated October30, 1900.

Application filed November 13, 1899 T0 (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD HANAK and GEORGE HOEPNER, citizens of theUnited States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, Stateof California, have invented an Improvement in Automatic Weighing-Scales; and we hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the same.

Our invention relates to automatic weighing-scales and improvementstherein; and it consists in a novel arrangement of an oscillatingtilting compartment weighing-bucket with relation to a fixed discharge,so that the compartments are alternately filled and discharged, latchesfor holding the bucket in either position to which it may be tilted,means for disengaging after the bucket is filled, and a novelarrangement of feed or supply hopper.

It also comprises details of construction which will be more fullyexplained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a sectional elevation of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a transversesection showing a bucket of modified form. Fig. 3 is a side elevation ofa modified form of bucket. Fig. 4 isadetail of a latch mechanism. Fig. 5is a transverse section of the feed-hopper, and Fig. 6 is a perspectiveview of the same. Fig.7 is a view from the side of the machine oppositeto that shown in Figs. 5 and 6 and showing the automatic cut-offmechanism.

As shown in the present drawings, A is a scale-beam fulcrumed at B, andC is a compartment weighing-bucket cent rally supported upon thescale-beam, as shown at D.

As we have illustrated our invention, two different forms of bucket areshown having the same general principle of operation, neither of whichhas any movable valve, gate, or shutter, and both are so poised withrelation to the fulcrum about which they tilt that they are turned bythe weight of the load in one compartment [0 place that compartment inposition to discharge and the other one simultaneously in position to befilled from the source of supply.

In Fig. l the diverging bottoms are always inclined downward and outwardand alterserial No. 736,769. (No model.)

nately close against fixed abutments, while, as shown in Fig. 2, thesebottoms are alternately tilted downwardly to discharge and upwardly whenthe compartment is to be filled.

The bucket has a vertical partition through its center dividingit intotwo compartments, and it is adapted to tilt about the pivot-point D, sothat the upper ends of these compartments are alternately brought intoline with the feed or supply hopper E and so that material from thishopper will fall into one compartment until a sufficient amount has beenreceived therein to cause the scale-beam to turn about its fulcrum andsink when the latching devices to be hereinafter described aredisengaged, so that the weight of the bucket will tilt it into positionto discharge, at the same time presenting the other compartment of thebucket to receive material from the source of supply. The oppositecompartments of the weighing-bucket diverge from the central partitionin each direction, as shown at c, and form the two discharges for thecompartments.

As illustrated in Fig. l, the lower part of the bucket oscillates belowthe point of suspension and between two hangers F, fixed to anddependent from the scale-beam and carrying at the lower ends fixedshutters or abutments G. These abutments are so placed that when thebucket tilts in one direction, so as to present the empty compartment tothe source of supply, the discharge-mouth upon that side will be incontact with the stationary abutment G, and will thus be closed. At thesame time the tilting of the bucket will have withdrawn thedischarge-mouth upon the opposite side from its stationary closure G,and it will thus be opened, so as to allow the material to flow out fromthis compartment, while the other is being filled. This enables us todispense with movable gates, shutters, or valves of any description.

In order to hold the bucket at either angle when tilted, we have shownlatches II, fulcrumed, as shown at I, and having Vertical shoulders orcatches h. It is intended to operate these latches either bygravitation, by spring, or other pressure, and without further mentionof any particular means we desire it to be understood in all fut urcmention of these latches that they will be so operated.

J are rollers or stops fixed upon the side oi the tilting bucket. and sodisposed that when the bucket has been tilted to its farthest limit inone direction one cf the latches H will drop, so that its shoulder 71falls behind the roller or stop J, and thus holds the bucket in thisposition until it has been filled snfliciently to cause it tocounterbalance the scale-beam and sink. As it thus sinks with relationto the latcltlevers, these latter being tulcrumed to the stationaryouter case K and having their movable ends resting upon supports, thedownward movement of the loaded bucket will carry the stops J below thelatch h, when the weight of the material in the bueket will immediatelytilt it to the opposite side. The latches 71 have their lower edgescurved or inclined, so as to move easily over the stops J J, and whenone has been disengaged, so that the bucket tilts in that direction, theother will move over its stop J until the latter has passed the end ofthe latch h, when the latch will drop and lock the bucket in thatposition, this being possible because as soon as the bucket commences todischarge it becomes enough lighter than the weight on the scale-beam toallow the latter to again tilt and raise the bucket, so that it will bein position to again engage the latch and catch.

In order to insure the disengagement of the latch when the bucket hasbeen filled, we have shown in Fig. i a supplemental lever O, fulcrumedat O and connected by a rod P with a lever Q, so fulcrumed that one endis in position to be struck by the bucket when the latter sinks afterbeing tilled. This contact is made by a contact point or device at. R,which is so adjusted as to strike the end of the lever Q when the bucketis loaded and descends by counterbalan cing the scale-beam. The lever Qthen acts through the rod P to tilt the lever O, the point of whichstrikes the projecting end of the latch-lever H and insures thedisengagement of the catch h from the stop J.

In Figs. 2 and 3 we have shown a modification of the weighingbucket,which in this case is in the form of a semicylinder having a centralpartition dividing it into two quadran t-shaped compartments. These compartrnents are fulcrumed, so as to tilt, as in the first-describedbucket, about the pivot-point I). As shown in Fig. 2, the bucket istilted so that one of the compartments stands beneath the supply deviceand in the form of a V-shaped hopper, while the other one at rightangles therewith is so tilted that the material can discharge over itslower edge and pass down through the conducting-passage in the outercasing. When the compartment has been tilted around its support D untilthe first-named one is in position to discharge upon the opposite sideof the center, the one which has just discharged will be returned to anupright position beneath the. source of supply. The latch mechanism ll,72., anlj opcr ates in essentially the same manner as previouslydescribed. In this case the tilting compartmcut-bucket C is supportedupon the end of the scale-beam A, which extends axially with relation tothe bucket, as shown in Fig. 3. In order to insure the tilting of thebucket constructed in this manner, the center of support D is at a shortdistance above the bottom c of the compartment, so that whenever eitherof the COll'lpal'l/mPlllS is in position and has received its load therewill be a sufficient overbalancing to that side of the central line toinsure the tilting ol the bucket soon as released.

The supply or feed hopper E is constructed with convergent directingboards or wings S near the top, and rods extending in line with thisconverging support the dircction-boards T at essentially right angleswith the boards S and interior thereto, so that material talling uponthe boards S will be directed against the boards T, the current agaii'ibroken by these boards throwing the materialoutwardly against the innersides oi the hopper and eventually allowing it to fall through into theweighing-bucket.

In supplying some kinds of material it may be found desirable to havethe directingboards T separated, so that a portion of the material willfall between them, in addition to that which has its direction changedby the boards S and T. In other cases it is desiiable to close theboards T together, which is done by sliding the wings S downwardly uponthe swinging sides E until they meet at the apex, as shown in dottedlines, Fig. 5, and then all the material can be directed outwardlyagainst the sides of the hopper. W'heu separated from each other,diverging directionboards U are iixed in line beneath the space betweenthe boards T, so that material which falls through this open space willstrike upon these direction boards U and be diverted against the sidesof the hopper, thus break-- ing up the current of the material andpreventing it falling with such an impact will tend to choke or clog thedelivery-passage.

Between the source of supply and the weighing-bucket is a notched gate10, which is connected with one arm of a fulcrumed lever 11. The otherarm is connected by a rod 12 with a hinged tilting discharge-chute 13,so disposed that the material leaving the weighing-bucket is directed toflow through this chute. The outer end of the chute has an arm 14 and anadjustable weight 15, which serves to counterbalance the dischargechuteand normally hold its receiving end up beneath the discharge-openingthrough which the material passes from the weighing-bucket. The angle ofthe chute 13 is such that the material flowing through it normally willnot alter its position; but it the chute should become clogged oroverloaded the increased weight would overcome that of the counterlCOIIO

balance 15 and cause the chute to tilt about its pivot-point, and actingthrough the connection l2 and lever 11 it will temporarily close thegate 10 untilthe discharge-chute is relieved of the surplus weight andreturns to its normal position. \Ve have here described this regulatingdevice as applied to weighing apparal us; but we do not limit it to suchuse, since it will be manifest that this automatic regulation of passingmaterial is equally important under all conditions in which a reg ularflow and discharge are desirable.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a weighing apparatus, a fulcrumed scale-beam, hangers andtransversely-fixed abutments suspended therefrom and a compartmentweighing-bucket pivoted and tiltable from side to side whereby thedischargeopenings are alternately brought into contact with thecorresponding abutments, ormoved away from them.

2. The combination with a weighing apparatus of a t'nlcrumed scale'beam,a compartment weighing-bucket pivoted and tiltable upon one end of thebeam and adapted to rise and fall therewith, said bucket havingdischargeopenings at opposite sides, and transversely-fixed abutmentscarried by the scalebeam and movable up and down in unison therewith andwith the bucket, whereby the tilting of the bucket alternately closesthe discharge-mouths against the abutments.

3. The combination in a weighing apparatus of a pivoted tiltingweighing-bucket having a fixed central partition and a discharge-opeding at the outer side of each compartment, a fulerumed scale beam uponwhich the bucket. is carried and with which it is movable, a source ofsupply beneath which the receiving-mouths of the compartments arealternately placed by the tilting of the bucket, and transversely-fixedabutments carried by the scale-beam and movable up and down in unisonwith the beam and against which the discharge-mouths of the buckets arealternately closed.

4:. The combination in a weighing apparatus of a tilting weighing-buckethaving a central partition, a fulcrumed scale-beam upon which the bucketis carried, and with which it is movable, a stationary source of supplybeneath which the mouth of one compartment is brought while the other isplaced in position to discharge after being filled, abutments carried bythe scale'beam against which the discharge-mouths are alternately closedby the tilting of the bucket, a latch mechanism by which the bucket isheld in position until the compartment is filled and the scale-beamdepressed, said mechanism comprising latchlatch levers alternatelyengage when the bucket tilts.

5. 'lhecombination in a weighingapparatus of a tilting compartmentbucket, a fu lcru med rising and falling scale-beam upon which thebucket is lillably supported, movable latchlevers having stationaryfulcrum-points and latches at the movableends, stationarystops by w iichthe vertical movement of the latches is li mi 1 eda'atln r stops carriedupon the bucket, one of which engages one of the latches when the bucketis tilted in one direction, and means to disengage the latches from thebucket-stops when the weight of the bucket causes it to sink whereby itis allowed to tilt to the opposite side.

6. 'lhecombination in a weighingapparatus of a fulcrumed tiltingscale-beam, a compartment weighing-bucket carried by and tiltable uponthe end of said beam, a source of supply beneath which the compartmentsare alternately brought to be filled, latch-levers having their outerends fulcrumed upon stationary supports, and their inner ends adapted toengage stops upon the bucket whereby it is held in either position towhich it may be tilted, said stops being disengaged by the sinking ofthe scale-beam and bucket when the latter has been filled, andsupplemental levers so fulcrumed as to be engaged when the bucket sinks,said levers acting positively upon the latch-levers to disengage themfrom the bucket-stops.

7. In a weighingmachine, a fulcrumed tilting scalebeam, at compartmentweighingbucket carried upon one end and tiltable to present eithercompartment alternately to be filled, latch-levers by which the bucketis retained in position until the filling of the compartment iscompleted, a source of supply,

and a hopper intermediate between saidsource and the weighingbucket,said hopper having diagonally-disposed direction-boards slidably mountedtherein to break the current and change the direction of the passingmaterial.

8. The combination in a weighing-machine of a tiltingcompartment-bucket, mechanism by which it is locked in either position,a feed-hopper through which material is delivered into thebucket-compartments as they are presented beneath it, direction-boardsdiagonally disposed with the hopper and by which the current of materialpassing through the hopper is changed, and means for slidably adjustingsaid boards to or from each other to vary the direction of the current.

9. The combination in a Weighing-machine of a scale-beam, a compartmentweighingbucket tiltahly carried upon one end of said beam, a source ofsupply beneath which the mouth of the buckets are alternately presented,a feed-hopper intermediate between the source of supply and theweighing-bucket, having diagonally-disposed direction-boards, and guidesupon which they are slidable to and from each other whereby the materialpassing through the hopper is interrupted and its direction of motionchanged.

10. The combination in a weighing-machine of a pivoted tiltingscale-beam, a tilting compartment-bucket carried upon one end thereof,hangers rigid'with the scale-beam and depending therefrom, and abutmentscarried by the hangers so as to be moved up and down with thescale-beam, to and from which abutments the discharge-mouths of thecompartments are alternately moved, a source of supply beneath which themouths of the bucket-eompartments are alternately brought, and aslidable controlling-gate therefor,a horizontally-disposed receiver intowhich the coinpartments are emptied, said receiver being fulcruined atone side, and a rod connecting said receiver with the discharge-gate,whereby a check in the flow of material through the receiver depressesit and acts to close the gate.

11. The combination in a \veighingmachine of a fulerunled scale beam, aweighingbuoket pivoted and tiltable thereon, locking and disengagingmechanism whereby the bucket is alternately held with either compartmentbeneath the source of supply until filled, the said locking device beingdisengaged by the sinking of the bucket, and a percussive mechanism bywhich the holding latch or pawl is positively disengaged.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

EDWARD HANAK. GEORGE HOEPNER.

Witnesses:

S. H. NOURSE, JESSIE O. BRODIE.

